《《s+b - Overcoming-Global-Innovation-Tradeoff》.pdf

strategy+business issue 69 WINTER 2012 Overcoming the Global Innovation Trade-Off How to maintain creative complexity without the limitations of co-location. by y ES DOZ AND KEELE WILSON V y reprint 00145 l e a d i n g i d e a s Leading Ideas 1 Overcoming comes wider and more varied, co- innovation. (See Exhibit.) location is no longer sufficient. Many managers recognize that the Global Leading innovators are increasingly the knowledge best suited to dis- seeking competitive advantage by persed global innovation is explicit, combining knowledge and capabili- codified, and modular. An example Innovation ties from many different places. is provided by the Internet-based Consider Essilor International SA, software development and analytics Trade-Off the world’s largest manufacturer of company TopCoder Inc. Because of ophthalmic corrective lenses. It en- the highly codified nature of the How to maintain gineers its lenses in Germany, makes knowledge it deals with, this com- blanks from high-transparency poly- pany can break all its clients’ soft- creative complexity mers in the U.S., and adds micron- w